Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 1406 Gossip
A week after Amei Yanxuan was released, the share prices of Bingxin and Yike were both hit, with the former suffering a large drop and the latter suffering a large drop in volume.

As many people have said, the wealth that evaporated from Yi Ke's boss this week is more than the money he spent in many business competitions in the past. However, during this week, the media did not get any response from Mr. Fang, and Yi Ke remained silent.

It is observed that Yike's production capacity supply does not seem to be affected, and the sales volume of the Mars 8.8 series has increased instead of decreased, which provides certain support for the company's market value.

However, just on the first day of the second week, a measure with a clearer goal was conveyed from the BIS in Washington, which proposed to add new regulations targeting IceCore International.

In addition to last week's first instance, two limits and three prohibitions, there is now a requirement to review Bingxin International's Meilijian and its US-listed customers, which means imposing additional import restrictions and license requirements on technology and products from Bingxin International.

In the first week, the import of ice cores was restricted. In the second week, the export of ice cores was restricted. Both the buyer and the seller were shackled.

As a result, Bingxin’s customers such as Nvidia, AMD, and Yike will be directly affected, especially...BIS’s goal is already very clear, but it also supplements that it will provide buffer time for Bingxin’s customer companies and will provide temporary import licenses to protect the interests of Meilijian and listed companies.

Bingxin has many overseas customers, with 23% of them in the Americas. Even if it can apply for a temporary license, this will undoubtedly cast a deep shadow on the prospects for smooth cooperation between the two parties.

As part of the supply chain, any business naturally hates uncertainty.

As the only user of IceCore 16nm, YiKe naturally bears a greater shadow and is subjected to deeper shocks and doubts. This is reflected in its market value, which has fallen from the highest point of US$4 billion after the Q4200 financial report to US$3700 billion.

Yike fell to 3700, but there was still no reaction. It just applied for a temporary license from BIS as soon as possible according to regulations.

However, it did not respond, and some people needed it to respond.

On March 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested YiKe to explain the reasons for the recent stock price fluctuations, disclose more information, and provide other factors that may affect stock price changes.

One day later, which was also the 11th day of the restrictions on IceCore International in Eastern Time, Yike finally gave an official response.

“We are deeply concerned about the recent significant volatility in Yike’s share price and fully recognize the impact this may have on investor confidence and market stability.”

“We are working hard to ensure the stability of Yili’s global supply chain and actively exploring cooperation with other suppliers.”

"We are applying for a temporary license from BIS and have had effective communication."

"We will continue to closely monitor market dynamics and further strengthen communication with investors based on actual conditions to ensure information transparency and protect the interests of shareholders and investors."

The statement jointly reviewed by Yike's management, legal team and financial department mainly released two pieces of news that relieved the market. One is that it has applied for a license, and the other is that it is exploring cooperation with other suppliers.

From the market's perspective, although Bingxin is indeed an important supplier of Yike, Yike is not without choice and is not unable to cooperate with other wafer manufacturing companies. However, Yike's silence in the past 11 days is disturbing.

What is Yi Ke thinking?
In other words, what is Mr. Fang thinking about?
Silence always leads to the spread of unrest.

Now, Yi Ke’s statement has at least broken the silence and is considered a positive attitude.

However, right after Yi Ke’s response, the media were still trying to find out the voice of Mr. Fang himself. Without his own response, can Yi Ke’s current statement represent his true attitude?
But Fang Zhuo still did not accept any interviews from domestic or foreign media.

At the same time, some media also turned to interview Taiwan's leading wafer foundry companies such as Samsung, GlobalFoundries, and UMC to try to verify the authenticity of Yike's statement.

Taiwan reporter: We have not had any contact with Yike Company yet.

Samsung: We are positive about our cooperation with Yike.

GF: Yike has made initial contact with us.

UMC: We are willing to carry out in-depth cooperation with Yike, but we have not yet discussed the relevant matters.

The media requested answers from the four companies, and only GlobalFoundries said it had contact with Yike. This... is not too bad. At least, Yike did not lie.

But can GlobalFoundries’ technology and processes replace ice cores?

This requires a big question mark.

On March 3, just three days after BIS added additional measures, affected customers of Bingxin International received the first temporary import license, and AMD announced that it had completed the BIS review and obtained a 11-day import authorization.

In just three days, AMDA became the first provisionally licensed enterprise.

Moreover, before this, AMD had only a few collaborations with IceCore, and it was only recently that it strengthened technical exchanges with Yike.

Some media believe that AMD is obviously "others are afraid of me, I am greedy", and wants to seek the blessing of Bingxin in advanced technology, and the approval of BIS is also very fast...

Why did BIS approve it so quickly?
This was also seen as a signal to reassure the market that it would not be difficult to obtain a temporary license.

Yike’s stock price has gained a certain degree of stability. After all, once the supplier problem is solved, its reputation and R&D over the years will still be highly competitive.

But can it be solved...

The product situation in the second half of the year will become an important indicator. Assuming that Yike can obtain a temporary license from BIS, the 90-day period will only be until the end of June. Two licenses will still be required in Q3 and Q4. Since it is temporary, it is destined to not exist for a long time.

Therefore, the time left for Yike to solve the problem is unlikely to extend to next year. According to the practices of the past two years, whether the new products in Q4 can maintain their competitiveness will determine the rise and fall of Yike in the global market.

The short-term shadow has not yet dissipated, and Yike still faces great challenges in the medium and long term.

Not only that, while YiKe was entangled with the SEC, BIS and the media, its direct competitors in the market had already begun to launch their new round of strategies.

On March 3, Apple entered Alibaba and set up an online flagship store, opening up an official online channel in addition to the official website. There are also reports that Apple and Alibaba will carry out greater cooperation on June 14 this year.

What kind of greater cooperation?
It's nothing more than a discount on price.

Unlike Apple's still hesitant attack, Samsung's mobile phone discounts are very straightforward. Not only are the flagship Trump phones discounted, but the company has also launched a number of unprecedented discount packages with domestic operators.

Since the release of its flagship last year, Samsung has been the worst performing of the Big Three, and its market share has been eaten up the most by Yike. This time, it has encountered a rare opportunity and is going full throttle, hoping to make a comeback in Yike's stronghold.

In addition to the two old rivals, Samsung and Apple, Qualcomm's chief executive Chen Fuyang, who lost the lawsuit not long ago, also appeared in mainland China, intending to take advantage of Yike's troubles to provide more competitiveness to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers.

Thanks to the development of Yike, the mobile phone industry chain in mainland China has become increasingly mature, and the competitiveness of mid- and low-end mobile phones has become stronger and stronger. After losing the lawsuit, Qualcomm's standard essential patents had to modify the licensing framework and adopt a different strategy from the past. This shift started from the Chinese market, which accounts for a large share of Qualcomm.

With rivals promoting sales and Qualcomm hovering, Yike is facing both internal and external troubles. Even many short sellers who have suffered from Yike in the past are ready to make a move.

At this time, the spread of some rumors dispelled the ideas of the short sellers.

It is said that Intel has started negotiations with Yike and will provide wafer foundry services.

In addition, the president of Yike YMS posted a short essay in his circle of friends, talking about Yike's Zhurong chip and exploring the possibility of external licensing.

So far, Intel and IceCore International are the only two companies in the world that have 14/16 process technology. The former does not provide wafer foundry services to external parties, so it has not been included in the discussion of replacing IceCore by the industry and the media.

But now…Intel’s viability is undoubtedly a bombshell.

If Yike's Zhurong chip is sold to the outside world and is no longer used only in its own models, the market value of high-end mobile phone chips will undoubtedly be affected again, which will further intensify the competition with Qualcomm.

With the continuous spread of such news, the short sellers stopped in time. It seems that Mr. Fang still has a lot of cards to play, so... let's let each other go for now.

(End of this chapter)